Patrick Flynn

4/28/16
Comm 1010
Greene
Research Paper
I know it seems redundant on how much I talk about media and how it affects different
people, but it is something I think is really affecting the youth. There are many people that
believe that the media is causing problems amongst the youth. This paper will talk about sites
that are common in the life of the youth and what things go along with those sites that cause
problems.
MySpace, according to Ahn, was one of the first big social media groups that started all
of the possible issues developed by the youth. When MySpace came out it was good for many
people in order to stay in contact or make new friends. When MySpace came out with the top
eight, which was a top friends list, set off a firestorm of social drama among teens (Ahn. Pg.
1437). This sort of drama can rip groups of friends apart all because someone has a list on a
website of who their best friends are. This shows how much in control and how firm the grasp
of social media is in our community today. These examples highlight how the structure,
function, and mission of a respective SNS community influence networking behavior (Ahn. pg.
1437).
Media has a very powerful effect on today's youth. For instance there is evidence that shows violent
media does in fact have an effect on adolescence. There is consistent evidence that violent imagery in
television, film and video, and computer games has substantial short-term effects on arousal, thoughts,

and emotions, increasing the likelihood of aggressive or fearful behavior in younger children, especially
in boys. (Browne). Though this evidence is consistent with the children it starts to become inconsistent
when the kids begin to get into teenage years. Nevertheless the fact that there is actual evidence that
shows children can act violently is shocking. If they are exposed to this for too long at a very young age it
could have long lasting effects on them in the future. Because of this, mentally they do not know that they
are watching is inappropriate and is actually harmful if mimicked. Adolescents do not have an
opportunity to act in an appropriate manner that is nonviolent and normal to society. Though the violence
on the screen does slightly affect the youth only weak evidence from correlation studies links media
violence directly to crime. (Browne). In this study there in no sufficient evidence that being exposed to
violent media will turn a child into a criminal, but can slightly affect the way they act.
Though social media is sometimes looked at in a bad light, there are some benefits to using it at a
young age. Engaging in various forms of social media is a routine activity that research has shown to
benefit children and adolescents by enhancing communication, social connection, and even technical
skills. (OKeeffe). All of these are good in the development of the youth but this much use of social
media can have a negative effect. Some of these problems are cyberbullying, privacy issues, and
sexting. Other problems that merit awareness include Internet addiction and concurrent sleep
deprivation. (OKeeffe). These problems are an epidemic in today's young society the big one being
cyberbullying. This has led to many suicides in the past few years and it can all be avoided. Kids form
cliques and gang up on others in order to feel in control and have power and popularity. Another serious
problem is sexting (even though snapchat, which is an app that only allows pictures to be seen for at
most ten seconds, has almost eliminated this from text form). This has led to many criminal charges of
youth who either send or receive the pictures and even share the pictures with friends which can easily
spread the word. An event like this can ruin a child both emotionally and physically. It can cause them to
not trust anyone in the future which can make life very difficult. Another problem is something called
Facebook depression which happens after long periods of time on the Internet. Adolescents who suffer

from Facebook depression are at risk for social isolation and sometimes turn to risky Internet sites and
blogs for help that may promote substance abuse, unsafe sexual practices, or aggressive or selfdestructive behaviors. (OKeeffe). Privacy is also a huge problem for the young kids who do not
understand the phrase what goes one the Internet, stays on the Internet. (Anonymous). As a result,
future jobs and college acceptance may be put into jeopardy by inexperienced and rash clicks of the
mouse. Indiscriminate Internet activity also can make children and teenagers easier for marketers and
fraudsters to target. (OKeeffe). There have been many stories in the media where kids lose great
opportunities because of the subject matter they put on the Internet. Any business can just go on the
Internet and Google ones name and everything that that person posted can be viewed. It is very important
that the youth of tomorrow are educated about the consequences if they post something irresponsible on
the Internet. It needs to be something that is focused on in the classrooms so they get a good foundation of
what can and cannot be posted on the inter web. This will help them not lose their identity to a complete
stranger and also keep them from being passed over in a job setting later in their life. Something else that
is happening on social media is advertisements. At first this does not sound bad but they have a great
influence on the youth. Be aware of the behavioral ads, because they are common on social media sites
and operate by gathering information on the person using a site and then targeting that person's profile to
influence purchasing decisions. (OKeeffe). These ads can easily affect a young person who does not
know what he or she really wants yet. This can affect the way they develop. They influence not only the
buying tendencies of preadolescents and adolescents but also their views of what is normal (OKeeffe).
These ads can truly harm the mental development of the adolescence and hinder their mental
development.

Ahn, June (2011). The Effect of Social Network Sites on Adolescents Social and Academic
Development: Current Theories and Controversies. Journal of the American Society for
Information Science and Technology, 62, 135-145.
Browne, Kevin D. & Hamilton-Giachristis, Catherine (2005). The influence of violent media
on children and adolescents: a public-health approach. The Lancet, 365, 702-710.
O'Keeffe, Gwenn S. & Clarke-Pearson, Cathleen (2013). The Impact of Social Media on
Children, Adolescents, and Families. The American Academy of Pediatrics.